b'can rival the Hubble Space Telescope. This two-week long trip spawned The Big Astronomy Project, a $2.5 million National Science Foundation-funded project to create a planetarium show with hands-on and virtual resources, and live social media events. In February, Big Astronomy won the Best Astronomy Education Award in the Dome Under Fulldome Film Festival, held in Melbourne, Australia. The planetarium show was (Photo by Harley Seeley)supposed to be released to planetariums worldwide in May, but COVID changed the plans. The show will still be released in planetariums that are open, but it will also be available for online viewing. The Big Astronomy Project is a multi-institution project, and Shannons role is research lead, studying how this collection of additional resources can continue engage-ment beyond a planetarium visit or viewing of the show. Planetarium Director Shannon Schmoll Shannon also serves as the Chair of the Education Committee and as a gives a presentation in the member of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee for the Inter-Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University national Planetarium Society. She has been married for nine years, and she ing a joint PhD in education and astronomy andand her husband Chris have two daughters, Veda (7) and Thora (3).astrophysics. She completed a Museum StudiesAs a participant in the Michigan Science Centers STEMinista Project, Certificate program that included a three-monthShannon wrote: One of my favorites quotes comes from Issac Asimov internship at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new Her PhD dissertation focused on integratingdiscoveries, is not Eureka but Thats funny . I think its important to planetarium field trips into a 5th grade curriculum,remember that we arent all going to have an AHA moment, but its the studying the seasons and phases of the moon.perseverance over time of asking questions and finding those answers that Following her graduation with a PhD from theresults in new knowledge and innovation. That is true for science as it is University of Michigan, Shannon worked onefor anything.year at the Field Museum in Chicago, developingIt is evident that Shannon has used her amazing talents, perseverance, and educational content for a traveling exhibition ondedication to education to bring her new knowledge, and success in the biomechanics. She then accepted a position as thefield she has chosen. We congratulate her on her diligence in working to Director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michiganobtain her PhD, and her desire to use her knowledge to teach others of the State University, where she has worked for thewonders of the universe. Spast six years. Opened in 1964 during the space race, this planetarium served 30,000 people just last year. During her tenure, Shannon has worked to devel-op partnerships on campus and in the community to offer not only information on astronomy, but also art, history, geology, and more through the planetarium. The staff are currently working on a new permanent exhibit featuring the planetariums meteorite collection, one of the most complete collections of Michigan meteorites. The exhibit is funded by a $97,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library services. In 2015, Shannon was accepted as part of the first cohort of the Astronomy in Chile Educator Am-bassador Program (ACEAP). This program tookcontinued on page 56nine astronomy educators to Chile to visit major National Science Foundation funded telescopes, to learn why Chile is so important to the study of astronomy. The educators were granted access reserved for staff and professional astronomers at four observatories in Chile: the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Gemini South, the South-ern Astrophysical Research Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. These are some of the most advanced observa-tories in the world, with image resolutions thatShannon Schmoll in front of the 8.1 meter Gemini South Telescope, on the summit of Cerro Pachn in Chile.WPMA News / Autumn 202055'